Seemingly Happy
by my-dreams-ur-entertainment
Summary: She always seemed happy. Smiling, laughing. Putting others before herself. He thought he knew her so well. So... how did he miss the pain in her eyes. The tear streaks on her face most mornings. The scars on her arms. How could he not notice the pain she was in? A story of wounds. The people who cause them and the people who fix them.
1. Chapter 1

**Well I got this idea from a dream I had the other night of Hime's life after Hueco Mundo. It's alittle OOC and kinda AU. Hope you like it!**

**Read and review please!**

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She always seemed so happy.

_"Morning Ichigo, how are you today?" _

Always smiling, laughing.

_"Haha, Rukia that's not what we had to do for homework!" _

And putting others before herself.

_"It doesn't matter about the cut on my arm! Are Renji and Chad okay!?"_

I thought I knew her so well. But if I claimed to know her so well, then how could I not notice.

How did I miss the pain in her eyes?

The tear streaks on her face most mornings?

The scars on her arms?

"How could I miss it! How I could I possibly not notice the pain she went through everyday!?"

"Ichigo, she hid it, really well. Tatsuki didn't even realize."

"But, Rukia, I.. I had a feeling. I had a feeling something wasn't right! And I just pushed it aside!"

Rukia walked over to his side and gripped his shoulder. "Look, Ichigo, you couldn't of done _anything_ to stop this. No one could of." She sighed and continued, "Honestly, she's always been really good at hiding her emotions from people. Especially from you. But being in Hueco Mundo must of taught her to hide her emotions even better."

Ichigo just sighed and pulled away from Rukia. "Look, how about, rather than sulking and making yourself feel worse about **nothing** we go visit her tomorrow?"

When she didn't get a response, she turned to the door to leave. Just as she was about to close the door she heard Ichigo answer.

"I'll think about it." Rukia smiled and shut the door. "Night Ichigo."

/-/-/

_There she stood, auburn hair whipping in the wind, arms stretched out, head tilted back towards the sky and soaked from the rain. _

_"Orihime! Is that you? What are you doing!?" Ichigo yelled over the wind. The girl turned her head back to look at Ichigo. Smiling she mouthed something to him. _

_"What!? Get down from there! I can't hear you! Orihime!" The girl closed her eyes and turned away from him. Still smiling, she gracefully stepped off of the bridge's ledge and fell. _

_Ichigo stood there, wide eye'd and terrified. "O-orihime!" He ran to the ledge and looked over hoping to see her._

_All he saw was the river cashing against the bridge. And as he slid down to the ground, he heard it._

_"Did you ever care?"_

Ichigo shot up out of bed in a cold sweat. Panting he looked over to his alarm clock.

_3:17 A.M._

"God, what was that...?" He pushed his hair back and took some deep breathes. Then lying back down, he looked out the window, "It's raining pretty hard...", and fell into a dreamless sleep.

/-/-/

"Now remember, she's very weak, physically and emotionally. Don't pester her with complicated questions and only speak with kind words. Also, not too loud, understand?" The nurse informed Rukia, Chad, Uryu and Renji and led them to her room. "Thank you." Rukia smiled at the nurse as she left.

"Wait," Renji spoke up before they opened the door, "where's Ichigo?" Rukia sighed and shook her head. "He refused to come. He has this crazy idea that this is all his fault."

Renji's teeth clenched as he held back from punching something. "That...that idiot! Doesn't he want to see her?" "Of course he does. But you know how he is. He probably thinks he couldn't protect her." Uryu chimed in.

"We better get going." Chad spoke up and reached passed Rukia to open the door.

The four walked in slowly. The room had a white and green color theme, with four or five wooden chairs placed randomly throughout the room. A large window sat directly across from the door with its curtains wide open, letting in as much sunlight as possible.

They all knew that they couldn't avoid seeing her forever, so they turned their attention to the pale girl on a bed that was placed up against the back wall.

Her auburn hair lost its luster, her beautiful ivory skin was now pale and her eyes looked sad. One arm was wrapped up in gauze while the other had the IV in it.

Once she realized she was in there, she looked towards them and spoke almost inaudibly, "Hey guys."

Rukia let out a breath she didn't realize she has been holding then smiled. "Hey, Orihime."

Orihime smiled back, "I've been better." She laughed a little before looking towards the window.

"Even though it's winter, the sun probably makes it feel like spring, huh?" Uryu looked over to Rukia with a puzzled face then looked back at Orihime. "Uh, yea, I guess it does. Anyway, uh, we stopped by your house and got you some things."

Uryu pulled a bag out from behind his back and placed it on the bed. Orihime smiled and opened the bag. Reaching in, she pulled out a picture of her brother, her favorite stuffed bear and her pillow from her room. Instantly her face lit up.

"You guys didn't have to." Orihime looked up from the bag to her friends, "Yea we did, I mean if your gonna be cooped up in this boring place for a few days, might as well have somethings that remind you of home, right?" Renji, who was casually resting up against the wall, said.

Orihime smiled even more and began to tear up. "What's wrong?" Chad asked from near the window. "Nothing, I'm just glad you guys came to visit. And that you brought me some things. Thanks." Rukia smiled and laughed, "Anytime Orihime. And we gotta go now, but we'll be back soon, okay?"

Orihime nodded her head still smiling. "Uh, Rukia, can you come here first." "Uh, Sure." Motioning the boys to leave, she walked over to the bed.

Rukia noticed that she tensed up before speaking. "Um... is, is Ichigo... okay?", she just smiled and grabbed Orihime's hand. "Yea, he's just a bit shaken up is all. He'll come visit. I know he will." Orihime smiled again and relaxed.

"Thank's Rukia. See you soon?" "Yea, by Orihime." Rukia then closed the door and smiled.

_I'm just glad she's okay._

_/-/-/_

That same morning, across Karakura Town in the Kurosaki household, Ichigo was woken up by the sound of whispered yelling.

"Dad! Dad! He's gonna be real mad!" "Yea Dad, just let him be, don't be a jerk." "Dad!" "GOOOOOOOD MORRNINGGGGG IIIIICHIIIGOO!"

And it hit him, literally. "Ow! What the hell! was sleeping!" Ichigo, now slumped upside down against his closet doors, rubbed his head. "HAHA SO IT WORKED." Isshin yelled and laughed again. "What worked!" Ichigo yelled flipping himself rightside up.

"Well, your yelling at me again. You haven't yelled at me in two days. Welcome back!" Isshin patted his son on the back and walked out of his room, laughing.

Ichigo grunted and grumbled while standing up and stretching. "He's right you know..." He looked to his door to see Karin and Yuzu standing there, smiling. "I know what happened and how it affected you. I mean, I'd be the same way if one of my best friends tried to... ya know." Karin paused and scrunched her forehead trying to think of the right words to say.

"What I mean is, that you shouldn't be _too_ down on yourself. Just, try and think positive, I guess. For her sake maybe." Karin scratched the back of her head and left. "You know just as well as I do how much she hates it when your upset. Especially when it's about her." And with that Yuzu ran off back to the kitchen.

Ichigo sat down on his bed and stared at his hands.

_I guess I'll go visit her tonight. _

/-/-/

"Um, excuse me, is it too late to visit someone?" The orange haired teen was dressed casually, but not too casually, with his right hand clutching a small bag. The nurse looked at him and smiled, "No, it's not. Have you signed in?" He nodded and she smiled. "And may I ask, what's the name of the person you're visiting?"

Ichigo was hesitant, his palms sweating and his knees a little weaker thank before.

_Breathe... you have to see her._

"Ah, Orihime Inoue." He tried his best to smile like he wasn't nervous, but that failed. The nurse chuckled and wrote down something on a small slip of paper. "Yes, she's in room 216. Go down this hallway, take a right, through the doors and the room should be on your left." She smiled at him and gave him the small slip of paper with her room number on it.

"Just don't be too loud." Ichigo smiled at her and followed her directions. As he approached the doors she was talking about, he knew they were the entrance to a different part of the hospital.

As he got closer, he realized what it read.

_Psychiatric Ward_

Ichigo took another deep breath before entering. Following the room numbers on the left side, he found her room with the door opened slightly.

He walked in quietly and saw her, sitting on her bed, looking out at the stars. She looked so small and frail. Like her hand would break if he held it. He then noticed the gauze wrapped up her left arm.

He closed his eyes tightly, trying to get the image out of his head, but he knew he could never forget what he saw. How he found her. How cold she felt.

Breathing, he stepped in more, hoping to get her attention. When that didn't work, he knew he'd have to speak up.

If only he could find his voice.

_Come on Ichigo._

"H-hey, Orihime." He spoke, loud enough for only her to hear.

He saw her body go rigid. He saw how her shoulders shook as she turned her head. And as she made eye contact with him, for the first time since Hueco Mundo, he saw her eyes light up.

"Ichigo." She smiled as tears ran down her cheeks, "I... I thought you wouldn't come." She sobbed into her hands, shoulders shaking violently, then looked back up at him.

"Thanks for coming Ichigo."

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**Hey guys! Hoped you liked it! Review maybe? For me!**

**I'll be updating soon! I promise lol.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! So I got alot of great reviews last time! It made me sooooo happy! I hope you like this chapter! Took me FOREVER seeing as how my mom accidentally deleted it the first time AND I DIDNT SAVE IT. But its all good! Hope you love it! Read and Review mabes? **

**Oh and just in case I didn't warn you the last chapter, some characters will be out of character for a bit. So yea :D **

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Ichigo's eyes went wide, "Orihime, why would you think that I wouldn't come?" Ichigo moved closer and sat in the chair next to her bed.

Orihime looked out the window and took a deep breath. "I don't.. well..." She started to shake again, "Because!" She looked at him.

"Because.. the one person I **never** wanted to see me like that is the one who found me. Because of all the blood that went everywhere! Because it's gross. I'm gross."

"Orihime.."

_You're not gross._

"Don't say that." He reached for her hand.

"And why not!?" She snapped tears still rolling down her face. Orihime looked out the window and bit her lip to keep from crying anymore.

Ichigo gripped her hand tighter and moved her face so she'd be looking right into his eyes.

_Can't you see? You're beautiful._

"Orihime, you are **not** gross. Don't you **ever** say that about yourself. Understand?" The seriousness in his voice almost scared her, so she nodded her head yes.

/-/-/

An hour or two went by and the two teenagers sat there, in a dimly light hospital room, talking about random things that came to mind. Or how the other soul reapers are.

Just small little things to keep her smiling. Because he knew that she loved talking to him. And he loved talking to her.

The conversation never died down and never got awkward. But when it was silent, it was a comfortable silence.

With her hand still in his. And with a smile on both of their lips.

Soon after things got quiet again, Ichigo noticed Orihime trying to hide a yawn. He looked down at his watch.

11:36

"Well, I think I should be going now, looks like someones tired." Orihime yawned again in response.

But just as he was about to leave he remembered, "Oh! Yea, this is for you. I picked it up on the way over here. I thought it would, I don't know, make you smile I guess." Ichigo handed her a small bag and headed for the door.

"Night Orihime.." She smiled at him. "Um, would it be okay if I, um, came back tomorrow too?" He asked, a light blush across his cheeks.

"Yea, I'd love if you came back tomorrow."

Ichigo nodded and headed out the door. The second he was outside the door his lips broke into a full grown grin that didn't leave his lips.

_/-/-/_

A few minutes after Ichigo left, Orihime opened the bag and pulled out something that she's been craving for a while. Her favorite, Red Bean Paste.

Inside the bag was a note written in Ichigo's handwriting.

_"Orihime, I know for a fact that hospital food isn't the greatest thing ever, so here's something that can hopefully make it a little better to enjoy._

_-Ichigo"_

Orihime held the note close to her heart and smiled as she looked out into the sky. "I'm so glad he came to visit. I really do hope he doesn't hate me."

_But he probably does..._

For the first time since she arrived home, Orihime fell asleep with a small smile on her lips.

/-/-/

It was almost 12:30 when Ichigo arrived home. He walked into the living room as quietly as he could in hopes his dad wasn't waiting up for him.

"I'm guessing you went to go see her after all." Ichigo turned around to see his dad smirking at him. "I-I don't know what you mean." Ichigo grabbed a bottle of water and headed towards the stairs.

"I'm going to bed." Before Ichigo was all the way up the stairs, Isshin spoke again, "I know you were nervous to go see her. But I bet you made her really happy tonight Ichigo. I'm glad you went." Ichigo just smiled and continued up the stairs to his room.

"So am I."

In his room, he changed and got into his bed, but before he could fall asleep a small, mind shattering thought passed through his mind.

_You could of protected her better..._

/-/-/

_"Hey, Orihime! You home?" A tall orange haired teen knocked on the apartment door. "Look I know it's late, but you weren't in school today or yesterday, so I was told to bring you the homework." _

_He waited a few seconds before knocking again. "Orihime..?" And when he didn't get an answer this time, he reached for the door knob to see if it was open._

_And to his disappointment, it was. _

_Ichigo walked inside the apartment with caution, just in case Orihime was asleep. "Orihime?" He whispered out into the darkness of the open room._

_Looking around Ichigo saw a light on in her bedroom and the door open a bit. "That's really weird..." _

_He slowly walked over to the door, "Orihime? Are you in there." Ichigo pushed the door open a bit before going in. "Orihime I'm coming in."_

_Ichigo pushed the door open all the way and walked into the room._

_And that's when he saw it._

_That's when he saw her._

_Blood._

_Everywhere._

_**Her **__blood._

_Ichigo dove down to the ground and grabbed her shoulders. _

_"Hey! Orihime! Orihime you have to wake up! You gotta! Orihime!"_

_Frantically, Ichigo rested her head on his lap and whipped out his cell phone, not caring if he got blood all over it._

_"Ichigo, what do you wan-" "Uryu! Uryu call an ambulance to Orihime's place!" Ichigo cut him off screaming into the phone._

_Uryu's eye's widened and he shot up out of bed. "What? Why?"_

_"She.. she... she's cut herself. All up and down her left arm! Quickly, she's already lost a lot of blood!" Ichigo hung up his phone and threw it across the room. "Orihime, you **have **to hang on. I've held on for you all those times and you never ever let me go." _

_Ichigo took off the light jacket he was wearing and wrapped it around her left arm to help stop the bleeding._

_"You never let me go, so I refuse to let you go! You have to hang on Orihime!" He yelled while, unknowingly, a few tears fell down his face. "Please."_

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**Hey! Hoped you liked it! And if you liked it enough to review then GREAT do so! Please! A reviewed writer is a happy writer!**

**Chapter three will be up by the end of this week because its some of chapter two but I feel like I needed to end it here. It felt... right... anyway, I LOVE YOU ALL bye:D**


	3. Chapter 3

**Yo! Okay so I've been getting alot of reviews about how much people love the story and alot of reads! And it makes me SOO happy! If you're a writer too, you know how excited you get when you have a bunch on amazing reviews on a story your really proud of! And all these reviews are gonna just make me update faster, so keep that in mind. But yea, hope you enjoy this chapter too!**

**And I just want to apologize for making all of you wait more than a week for an update. I've been working on this chapter for that whole time, but with a small amount of writers block, my permit test (_failed it btw_) and SAT's on Saturday, I've been pretty busy! So sorry! And I've also realized that I need a slow calming song to write too, or I just can't write, weird huh? **

**ANYWAYYYY Hope you all enjoy!  
**

**Love ya all **

**Disclaimer - I don't own Bleach!**

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Ichigo's eyes shot open. He jolted up in bed, breathing heavily and sweat dripping down his face. After taking time to settle his breathing, he got up from his bed and walked to the kitchen.

"What's up with all these dreams..." He quietly asked himself while grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge. Taking a big swig from the bottle, he walked back to his room and just sat on the edge of the bed.

Ichigo ran a hand over his face and fell back onto the bed, his feet still flat on the ground.

He picked his left arm up and brought it above his face. Running his fingers up and down the exposed skin, one thought went through his mind, that, unknowingly to him, would keep him up the rest of the night.

_Why?_

/-/-/

Orihime looked at the clock next to her bed.

_3:12_

She was so tired, yet she couldn't fall back asleep. "Ugh!" She grunted in annoyance and flipped over on her stomach. "I just wanna go to bed." She mumbled into her pillow.

Facing the window, she closed her eyes for a few seconds just to have them open up again. Feeling that something was wrong, she sat up and walked to the window, touching the glass with her hand.

Orihime let her body relax and steadied her breathing. Taking a deep breath in, she realized what the feeling was.

"Ichigo..." She whispered and leaned her head on the window glass.

_I'm sorry..._

/-/-/

"Well, how should we wake him up?" Ichigo heard a familiar faint voice in the darkness of his mind. "I don't know... poke him." Another faint voice that he recognized spoke up.

"Just, kick him or something, we'll be late." Ichigo's eyes shot open, "I'm up! I'm up!" he jumped out of the bed to see Rukia, Uryu and Chad, standing there, in their school uniforms.

"Shit! Is it Monday?" He asked, already knowing the answers. He shot out of his room and ran to go get ready.

Meanwhile, the other three walked down stairs and sat with Yuzu and Karin to wait.

"So," Karin shoved some rice in her mouth, "why are you guys here to pick him up, anyway?" Yuzu nodded in agreement with her sister.

Rukia and Uryu just looked at each other. "Uh, well.. you know just as well as we do that when someone close to Ichigo gets hurt, he tends to fall into a small depression. Going on and on about how he could of protected them better." Rukia explained.

"I mean, remember last time Orihime got hurt? She had a cast and other pretty bad injuries, and he blamed himself for what happened to her. He couldn't even look her in the eye." Rukia looked away from the two girls. "But this time..."

Uryu stepped in, continuing for Rukia, "But this time, it's different. Obviously this has effected all of us and we're all upset about it.. but Ichigo..." Uryu trailed off.

"Ichigo seemed to have taken it the hardest." Chad spoke up. "Yea," Rukia smiled in agreement with Chad, "and we just wanna make sure he's okay."

Yuzu smiled at her older brothers three friends, "Well thank's for looking out for our brother."

Rukia just smiled at them as Ichigo came running down the stairs. "Okay! Lets go!" He stopped at the fridge and grabbed something quick to eat, then was out the door in seconds.

"Bye girls." Rukia smiled and waved at Yuzu and Karin, following Chad and Uryu out the door.

The second the front door shut, Isshin came walking down the stairs, dressed for work. "I went into Ichigo's room to check on him and he wasn't there. Did he go to school?" He asked sitting down at the table and sipping his coffee.

"Yup. Rukia, Chad and Uryu came to get him." Karin answered, not really paying attention. Isshin just smiled.

"Well that's good. He needs some normalcy right now."

/-/-/

Ichigo sat in his desk as the school day dragged on, and, thankfully, it was now the end of the day. "So, Ichigo, wanna do something?" Rukia asked as Ichigo grabbed his bag and headed out of the classroom.

Without turning around he just shook his head, "Ah, sorry Rukia, I kinda promised someone I'd visit them today." Rukia just smiled at the boy as he walked off farther down the hallway.

"Tell her I'll stop by tomorrow!" She yelled to him from the class door. Ichigo turned his head back, smiled and waved, letting her know that he would.

Ichigo felt good. Even though the day seemed to drag on, he was looking forward to visiting Orihime.

Smiling to himself, he walked home to go change into more comfortable cloths.

Which took him longer than he thought it would. "Look, Ichigo, you're thinking about this **way** too hard! Just put on some jeans and a tee shirt! Bam! Good to go!" Yuzu told Ichigo, hoping he'd hurry up and go see her _before_ she'd start to think he forgot.

"I know, I know. But, it's just.. I don't know.." He sighed and settled on a pair of grey skinny jeans and a red hoodie. "See! You look great! She'll think so too!" Yuzu exclaimed from the sink as Ichigo walked down the stairs.

"Uh, thanks Yuzu..." He scratched the back of his head and look away from his sister. "Tell dad I'll be home later. Bye." And with that, Ichigo walked out the front door.

/-/-/

"Orihime, it's time for dinner." Kya, a nurse in the Psych Ward, said while walking into the room smiling, rolling a cart behind her with Orihime's dinner on it. "Would you like to eat by the window?" Kya asked.

Orihime looked from Kya to the window and smiled. "Yes please." "Okay, then just sit in that chair and I'll go get a tray table."

Kya left and Orihime joyfully got out of the bed and walked towards the chair besides the window. "Here you are." She came back in, smiling, and put the table in front of Orihime with the tray of food on top of it.

Orihime smiled at her, and just before she left, Orihime spoke up. "Um, Kya..?"

Kya turned around and smiled, "Yea, Orihime?"

Orihime looked down at her hands in her lap, nervously playing with her fingers. "Well, I understand I just got here, but, when can I leave?"

Kya breathed in, paused, then pursed her lips. "Well.. I don't know dear. It all depends on what the doctors say on how you'll get treatment. Sorry." Kya smiled and walked out, closing the door behind her.

"I still don't understand what I'm doing here though. I don't need to be here. There's nothing wrong with me."

_I'm not crazy._

/-/-/

The closer he got to the hospital, the more nervous he got.

His hands got clammy, his knees began to go weak, and his heart sped up.

And before he realized it, he was in front of her room.

He took a step forward and knocked on the door, heart still pounding, hands still sweating.

He heard a faint "Come in." from inside the room. And the second after he walked in and saw her, sitting by the window eating, he felt calm again.

Seeing her hair pulled back into a messy bun and her eyes wide and smiling at him made all of his nervousness leave his body in a matter of seconds.

"H-hey, Orihime." He waved, awkwardly and stood near the door. "Hi Ichigo," She chuckled at the way he was acting, "you can come sit down ya know." She smiled at him and pulled the chair near where she was sitting closer to her.

"O-oh, yeah, sure." He stumbled over to the chair and sat down. He settled in the chair and looked at her. "Hi." He smiled.

Orihime laughed, more noticeably this time. "What?" He asked her, scrunching his forehead in confusion. "Nothing, nothing." She took a deep breathe to calm down.

"It's just.. you've never acted this way before. Well, not in front of me at least. But it's funny." She laughed again and Ichigo just smiled and sighed.

"Sorry, I guess I'm just nervous." She smiled again, "It's okay, I still am, and I've been here for three days."

It was quiet for a minute or so when Ichigo let his head drop down. He carefully glanced at Orihime's left arm while she finished eating, hoping she wouldn't notice.

His eyes widened and his body went ridged.

Blood started to seep through the gauze on Orihime's left arm.

* * *

**Oh no! Blood! **

**I hope you all liked it! This chapter was originally ALOT longer than this, but I had to cut it short because if I didn't this chapter would literally be 2,800 words. Lol.**

**And I realized something, it may seem like it takes place in the hospital mostly, but don't worry, it'll change up soon:)**

**Anyway, thanks for reading! I'd really like it if you left a review for me:D**

**Please and thanks **


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! So I'm starting to get into a pattern! Two chapters every week or so? Is that good for you? Let me know if you want the updates to be spaced out more or something:D Doing this for you, so give me input! Also, if you have any ideas for the story, just PM me! I always love new and different ideas! **

**So, hope you like this chapter! Love you all:D**

**Disclaimer- I don't own Bleach!**

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Ichigo abruptly got up from the chair, surprising Orihime. He moved the table over and grabbed her hand, rushing her to the bathroom inside the room. "Ichigo, what are you doing? What's wrong?" She asked, obviously confused at his random actions.

He turned the light on then sat her down on the edge of the bath tub. "You're..uh- wounds. They opened up.. there's blood all over the bandage."

"Ichigo, it's fine.. I can call a-" "No, it'll get infected if we leave it too long." "Oh.. okay." She stuttered nervously.

Ichigo started to rummage through all the small drawers and cabinets around the bathroom looking for gauze. Orihime just sat there on the edge of the tub, scratching at the already bloodied bandages from fear.

Fear of what he will say when he seems them.

Of what he will do.

"O-Orihime!" He broke her from her thoughts. "What are you- stop scratching your arm!" He knelled down in front of her and grabbed her right wrist to get her to stop scratching.

"Look at me. I'm going to re-wrap your arm. Nothing more, nothing less. Okay. Just sit still and trust me." She just stared at him as he began to unwrap the bloody gauze from her left arm.

Orihime sat there quietly and watched all of his movements as he took off the bandage. When it was off, Ichigo wet a small washcloth with warm water and washed off her arm.

She could feel his hand stiffen on her arm once all of the cuts were visible. She saw the pain in his eyes.

The pain _she_ caused.

Then, without realizing it, he started to run his hand up and down her arm.

There were so many, too many to count.

They were jagged and scattered. Some long, some short. Some deeper than others.

The skin around each one was an irritated red color that looked painful.

He ran a finger over a small checkered patch just above her wrist. She quickly sucked in air and squeezed her eyes shut. "Oh, s-sorry, I didn't mean to.." "It's okay."

He began to wrap her arm in the new gauze as silence settled around them again. But this time, they both knew something needed to be said and once he was done, he cleared his throat then stood up. "All done." He looked down to her, smiled, and held his hand out. "Like new."

She closed her eyes for a few seconds then got up and left the bathroom.

Ichigo stood there, surprised she didn't take his hand, and followed her out into the room. "Look, Orihime," He saw her standing in front of the window and heard her sniffling.

He sighed and walked towards her, "I'm sorry if I made you upset, I mean, I did kind of pull you into the bathroom withou-" "I'm not mad about that." She snapped, then immediately regretted it.

"Sorry.." She muttered, turning around to face him and letting her back be warmed by the setting sun. He gave her a small smile, "It's fine," He stepped closer to her, "but what could make you so mad that you'd start to cry?"

She sighed and turned around again, "I just want to go home. I wanna go back to school with you and everyone." Her voice picked up an angry tone he's never heard before, "I don't want to be in here anymore."

"Well," He thought for a second, "we all want you to come back too, but you need to get better first." He paused again, "You need to get help here."

Orihime let out a frustrated sigh and faced him. "But, I don't _need _help! So I don't see why I have to be here."

_Don't need help...?_

"If you have a reason on why I should even stay, please tell me. Just give me one." She snapped.

_Your arm..._

But Ichigo stayed silent.

"See, no reason at all." Orihime faced the window again and folded are arms over her chest.

Ichigo moved in front of her so she'd be facing him. "You **need** help. That's why you should, no, that's why you **need** to stay." His voice was low and his eyes bore into Orihime's as he spoke.

She pulled away from him and threw her hands in the air, "But I don't see the problem!"

He just stared at her, astonished that she could ask such a thing. "You.. you don't see the problem?"

"No! I-I mean yes! I mean, it's not bad or anything! I can heal the cuts if I need to and it's not like anyone else is getting hurt." She yelled at him, her face red and breathing uneven.

"Orihime, yes, it hurts others! It hurts the people closest to you! All of our friends, and me too! And another thing! This has **nothing** to do with the fact that you 'can heal them if you need to'! Its about the fact that your not mentally stable right now!"

Her eyes went wide.

_I'm not crazy._

"Oh what? You think I'm crazy too!"

"No! I never said that! Who said you ere crazy?"

"Well, I am in the freaking **Psych Ward**!" She yelled, her vision going blurry from holding back tears. "That does _not _mean youre crazy!"

"Yes it does!" Now the tears were streaming down her cheeks and her knees gave in. "My whole family... my whole family seems to think I'm crazy..."

"What? Why would they think that?" Ichigo quickly bent down to the ground at her level and rubbed her back.

"My Aunt.. the one that helps pay for my house. She came today for a visit and.." She took in a shaky breath. "And she said that I'm no longer a part of her family. Shes going to stop paying for my apartment." Orihime broke into a fit of violent sobs, so Ichigo wrapped both of his arms around her shoulders, letting her cry into the crook of his neck.

After a few minutes, Orihime seemed to have calmed down, so Ichigo let go of her and held her face in his hands, wiping her eyes. She sniffed and laughed.

"Then she called me crazy.. that I belonged here...She must be-"

"Don't you dare say that she's right." Ichigo looked at her with pleading eyes.

Orihime nodded lightly then got up. "I'm pretty tired Ichigo..." He stood up with her and smiled.

"Yea, get some sleep, okay?" He patted her on the head then walked towards the door.

"Ah, wait Ichigo." Orihime called out before he could open the door. "Yea?"

She looked down at her feet and bit the inside of her check. When she looked back up at him, he could see a faint blush across her cheeks. "Would you, um, mind staying with me... until I fall asleep?"

And that's when he saw it. The innocence in her eyes that he hasn't seen since before she was taken from him.

He smiled and sat in the chair next to the bed. "I'd be honored to."

Orihime smiled at him and climbed into bed. She turned her back to him and smiled. "Night Ichigo, and sorry for-" "Shhh, Orihime. Just go to sleep, we can talk about it tomorrow."

She could hear the smile on his lips, "Yes Ichigo, night."

And he could hear the smile on her lips. "Night Orihime."

* * *

**TOLD YOU IT WAS LONG. THIS WAS ****ORIGINALLY FOR LAST CHAPTER. Hence why it's only at the hospital:D hope you all liked it! Through some Drama in!**

**So yea, I'll update as soooon as I can, I have finals coming up soon so please be patient with me:)**


	5. Chapter 5

**OKAY HATE ME ALL YOU WANT. TERRIBLE TERRIBLE UPDATING AND IM OH SO SORRY.**

**REALLY, NO EXCUSES CAN COVER ME OTHER THAN THE FACT THAT I'M LAZY ASS WITH WRITERS BLOCK. FORGIVE ME PLEASE. **

**I PROMISE I'LL UPDATE THINGS QUICKER THIS TIME. **

**IM SO SORRRYYY D': **

**But here it is, after a long wait, chapter 5. I really hope you enjoy it and how things are turning out. It's currently 10:30 P.M and I'm going to finish this chapter tonight, sooo please favorite it or review it or just keep reading it haha. **

**Again thank you for your patience and I love you all. **

* * *

Ichigo's eyes fluttered open, only to see his ceiling. He sighed and turned over on his side, facing his calender.

"Well, winter break's almost here. That's good." Ichigo stretched and sat up in his disheveled bed. He rubbed his eyes and moved the curtain blocking the window, noticing that it was pouring out. "Oh great.."

He got up out of bed and walked over to his closet when he heard a knocking at his door. Ichigo, surprised at the unusual politeness, muttered a quiet and slow "Come in." cautiously waiting for a surprise kick in the head.

"Ichigo.. what are you doing?" Rukia asked, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Nu-nothing." He scratched his head and continued getting ready for school.

"What are ya doing here? Walking me to school again?" He smiled, scratching the back of his head.

Rukia rolled her eyes, "No. We're taking a day off." She walked over to his desk and picked up his Substitute Badge, walking back towards him.

"Wha-why? I _just_ got back into going to school on a regular basis!" "Wellll, we need to talk to Kisuke." Rukia punched him in the stomach, his badge wrapped around her fist.

"Ow! What the hell!" Ichigo screamed, now in his Soul Reaper form. "And why do we need to go talk to Kisuke?" He asked rubbing his stomach where Rukia punched him.

"What do you think? What big thing happened a few days ago that shook up a lot of people?"

Ichigo looked down at the floor for a second then rubbed the back of his head. "Orihime?"

Rukia nodded her head with her eyes wide, giving him that 'Oh now you get it' look.

"But.. why?" Rukia walked to the window to open it and sat on the ledge. "Well, I'm not sure really. I have an idea.. but then again, it's just an idea." And with that, she stepped out of the window and Flash Stepped to Kisuke's, with Ichigo following closely behind.

/-/-/-/

"Welcome! I haven't seen you two in a while! Go in and sit down! We'll be having tea!" Kisuke yelled, closing the door after Ichigo and Rukia stepped in.

Ichigo sat down at the small table where he and his friends had sat down before to talk about how they would save the world 'this time'.

It was only after Kisuke sat down that Uryu and Chad entered the room and sat down. "Ichigo, Rukia." Uryu nodded his head to his two friends then fixed his glasses.

Chad nodded his head at the two friends as well, "Hi."

"Hey Chad, Uryu. What are you two doing here?" Ichigo asked, leaning back on his hands.

"Well, seeing as how Orihime is our friend two.." Uryu spoke, looking towards Ichigo. "Uh, yeah.. sorry." He rubbed the back of his head and looked towards Rukia who looked towards Kisuke.

"Well, we haven't been all together like this in a while!" Kisuke yelled, in his happy go lucky tone.

"Kisuke." Rukia glared at him, motioning for him to get down to business, and his tone instantly changed to a more serious one.

"The reason I asked you to come here is to talk about the little mishap our friend Orihime has gotten herself into.." Kisuke looked around the table, everyone looking back at him, waiting for the continuation.

"Now, I assume you all know what happened?" They all nodded their heads. "Okay, good. And I understand that all of you know where she is.. in the hospital, correct?" Ichigo up from Kisuke and down to his hands in his lap.

"The.. psych ward.."

Things fell silent for a few seconds before Kisuke cleared his throat and continued. "Right.. well we need to get her out of there."

In an instant, Ichigo was up off the ground, towering the rest of his friends who stood sitting.

"What! Why!?" Rukia looked as his balled up fists and noticed that his knuckles were white. "Calm down Ichigo, I know Kisuke has a good reason on why he want's her out of there."

"What good reason could he have for wanting her out of there! She's in _there_ to get help!"

Kisuke looked up into Ichigo's eyes, "I have a good reason for wanting her out of there."

Ichigo quickly sat down, a little frightened by the serious look in Kisuke's eyes.

"Why do you want her out of there?" Uryu questioned, fixing his glasses.

"Well," Yoruichi, in cat form, came out from a different room and jumped on the table, "just think of this. Imagine you aren't who you are."

Everyone around the table gave her strange and questioning looks. "Uryu, your not a Quincy, Ichigo and Rukia, you aren't Soul Reapers and Chad, you don't have the power that you have."

"What does this have to do with Orihime?" Ichigo retorted. "Well, if you let me finish." Yoruichi spat back.

"Anyway. So just imagine you are all normal human beings." "Okay.." Rukia spoke up, a little confused herself.

"Now, imagine a girl, who recently tried to commit suicide, tell you 'why' she did it when asked. And imagine your face when she tells you the answer."

"'I was kidnapped by an Espada, taken to another world, and held captive. And that's not even half of it. I then watched my closest friends almost die in battles that determined the earths fate.'"

Yoruichi looked at Kisuke, signalling him to continue. "See what we mean? If she gets evaluated by a doctor and is asked to tell all the traumatizing things that have happened to her in the past few months.. well... they'll never let her out."

Ichigo looked back down to his lap and sighed.

"You do have a point." Uryu spoke up, "We don't want her to be taken away.. but then again, she does need treatment. But I don't think an ordinary Hospital here in our world could really help her."

"So do we send her back to the Soul Society?" Chad added in.

"Well, that's what Kisuke and I were thinking.. that is if we got her out."

While their conversation continued about where to send his Orihime, Ichigo just sat there, clenching his fists.

It was a few minutes into the conversation before Ichigo yelled.

"No!"

Rukia looked at Ichigo, taken aback, "Wha- Ichigo?"

"No," Ichigo spoke through clenched teeth, "I will **not **let you take her away!"

Uryu looked at Ichigo, "What do you mea-"

"She.. she **just** got back home! And now you want to send her away again!?"

"But she's not even really 'home' Ichigo. Why are you getting so upset?" Rukia asked.

"I know shes not really home, but shes here, back at home, with her friends and the faces she used to see everyday. She just wants to get back to normal and forcibly taking her away **again **will only make things worse for her!" His breathing was heavy, and his palms were bleeding from digging his nails into them.

Things got silent for a minute and Yoruichi looked towards Kisuke, who just looked back at her. "Well, we never really considered that.."

Kisuke sighed and looked towards Ichigo, who calmed down a bit from before. "I guess we could arrange something else.."

Ichigo's eyes shot to Kisuke, who had a small smile gracing his lips. "Now we just need to find her a way out of there."

Ichigo let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding in and looked up to everyone, "I may have an idea.."

"Well shoot." Kisuke now had a goofy smile across his lips, and Ichigo smiled back.

"Well.. it's really sad actually, but we can use it to our advantage." "What is it?" Chad asked.

"Orihime's aunt, the one that pays for all of her things.. well she disowned Orihime the other day.."

A gasp was heard from Rukia and Uryu shook his head, "Why?" He asked.

Ichigo took a deep breath in before answering. "Her aunt said something like.. how she doesn't want crazy people in her family.."

"What! Orihime isn't crazy!" Rukia spat.

"I know.. but I don't know. That's just what her aunt said."

"Well, Ichigo is right..we can use this."

"How?" Chad asked again. Yoruichi looked at Chad then to the other three at the table. "Easy."

She then transformed into her human form on the table, "I'll be her aunt from the other side of the family."

As the smoke cleared away everyone at the table made noises of disgust and looked away. "Jesus Yoruichi! But some damn cloths on!"

"Ya warn us next time, god!"

Yoruichi laughed and left the room to change.

"Well then it's settled. This will take effect tomorrow morning." Kisuke stood up to leave, but Ichigo grabbed his arm.

"Wait, her real aunt disowned her. Where is she going to stay is she can't pay for the apartment? And what about her treatment?"

Kisuke plopped down in front of Ichigo, scratching his hat.. "Well the treatment thins we can handle later, but soon enough so it wont cause a problem.."

"Ichigo," Rukia chimed in, "Why don't you just have her stay with you?"

Ichigo's face instantly turned a deep shade of red and he shot off the ground.

"Wha-wha-what! Th-thats impossible! She couldn't stay with me!" "Why not?" Uryu asked.

"Well, ugh, my Dad's crazy and um, there's not enough room-" "Sure there is. I just moved out so there's the extra bed in your sisters room, right?" Rukia smiled 'oh so innocently'.

"Ugh, I guess.."

Kisuke shot up again, "So it's settled! Orihime will stay with you for the time being!" And with that, everyone let the table, leaving Ichigo standing there, wondering what the hell just happened.

* * *

**I hope you guys liked this chapter! I tried to make it a bit funny in parts, so I hope you found it a bit funny too!**

**Sorry if it seemed a bit rushed, but I think it came out pretty good! **

**Chapter 6 will be up as soon as I can get it up which will hopefully be in 1 week or less (I'll start working on it tonight!)**

**And again I AM SO SORRY.**

**But yea, its 11:30 P.M**

**Only worked an hour... bad? good?**

**Who knows. But yea! **

**Review and tell me what you think!**

**Love you all and until next time!**

**By lovies!**


	6. Chapter 6

**I. Am. So. Sorry. **

**Shit came up, drivers ed, two week vacation to the beach (with no wifi), family stuff, writers block so bad I cried.**

**But these excuses don't cut it. And I can't tell you how sorry I am. But I just hope you still all love me because I still love you and I've been working hard on this chapter for all of you. **

**So again please forgive me! And enjoy this chapter!****  
**

* * *

"Wait so how is this working?" Ichigo whispered to Yoruichi as they walked towards the hospitals front desk. Yoruichi looked up towards Ichigo and pulled him aside before they reached the desk.

"Okay this is the **last **time I'm going to tell you. I'm going to say that I'm Orihime's older cousin from her dads side that just got back from America and heard the news. They already know you and that you're her friend so you just have to nonchalantly back me up."

She looked at the nurses at the next quickly then back to Ichigo, "Understood?"

He looked confused, opened his mouth to talk, closed it, then opened it again.

"But what if they don't believe us?" Yoruichi smirked at him, scaring Ichigo.

"Why are you smiling like that?" He asked her and she replied looking calm and collected. "You don't really think I'd go into this plan without a plan B, did you?"

Ichigo, again opened his mouth as if to speak then closed it. He ran his hands trough his hair and sighed. "No, I had a feeling you;d have a plan B. Just make sure Orihime doesn't get hurt."

"I would never allow that, now lets go." And Yoruichi made her way to the desk.

The nurse sitting down looked up to Yoruichi, "Hello, how may I help you?"

As Ichigo walked up behind her, he heard Yoruichi begin to talk, and very ladylike at that.

"Yes hello. My name is Yoruichi Inoue. I came home from America the second I heard that my neice Orihime was admtted here." Yoruichi smiled at the nurse. "My I please go see her?"

The nurse looked from Yoruichi and then to Ichigo, and recognized him amediatly. "Of course you can!" She smiled at Yoruichi and looked towards Ichigo. "I assume you can show her the way?"

Ichigo looked down at his feet, a light tint of pink on his cheeks. "Uh, yea, follow me Yoruichi."

He began to walk down the long hallway, with Yoruichi following closely behind, and stopped before entering the doors that read 'Psychiatric Ward'.

Ichigo looked towards Yoruichi, "I hope you know what your going to say to the doctor." She just nodded her head, smirked, and walked past him through the doors, "I know what I'm doing."

Ichigo sighed and caught up to her looking into open door, probably hoping to see a glimpse of auburn hair. "Her door wouldn't be open."

He spoke up, making Yoruichi turn around. "Huh?"

He smiled and walked towards a door marked 216, "She likes keeping her door closed." And he knocked on it.

/-/-/

Orihime was sitting up on her bed, bored out of her mind and _trying _to read some magazine that she found in the room when she was first admitted there.

After a few more minutes of trying to read, she angrily closed the magazine and threw it to the bed side table, sighing while doing so.

That's when she heard a knock at her door.

Orihime sat up straighter in bed and quickly fixed her hair in hopes a certain someone would be walking through the door.

"Come in." The door opened to reveal a familiar tan woman with long purple hair. "Yoru..ichi? Orihime asked as another person walked in after the former Squad two captain. "And Ichigo!"

"Oh Orihime!" Yoruichi ran towards the now confused, and a little scared, girl and threw her arms around her neck.

"Oh I missed you so much! Are you okay!" "Uh.." Ichigo walked over to the two girls, "Um Yoruichi, the doors closed. You can drop the act."

Yoruichi let go of the girl who then questioned her two visitors.

"Act?" Orihime shook her head quickly trying to set things straight in her head, "What are you doing here? And what act?"

Yoruichi smirked at the thoroughly confused girl, "We're gettin you outta here!"

Orihime's eyes went wide, but at the same time the doctor walked in, drawing her attention away from the girl in the hospital bed, causing Yoruichi not to notice.

But Ichigo noticed.

_Is she scared? _

"Miss Inoue, may I speak to you outside? I'd like to talk to you about our treatment plan for her." And the doctor walked out, Yoruichi following behind, "Be right back guys."

The instant the door shut Orihime's eyes shot to Ichigo's then down to her hands.

"Orihime what's wrong? And don't say 'nothing'." Ichigo asked, stepping closer to the bed ridden girl.

She looked towards Ichigo then back down to her hands, which she began to dig her nails into, causing them to draw blood.

"O-orihime what are you-" He reached for her hands but was then stopped but her question.

"What do you mean 'get me outta here'!? And why is Yoruichi's last name Inoue!?" She began to squeeze her hand harder, which led to her nails digging into her hand more.

"Do you **not **want me to get better!? That's the whole reason I"m here right!?" She continued screaming at the other teen in the room.

Ichigo calmly reached for the girls small hands, looking right into her eyes while doing so.

Orihime was so taken back by his boldness to just grab her hands she let her grip on it go, so all Ichigo did was lift up her left hand.

He kneeled down so he'd be eye level with the girl and quietly examined the small frail hand then wrapping his own around it.

"I-I'm so sorry. I.. can't believe I just did that.. in front of you." Ichigo looked at the girl, letting a small smile grace his lips.

"It's okay, it's our fault for not telling you what the plan was."

"Plan? What do you mean?"

Ichigo stood up, her hand still in his, and grabbed a chair to drag closer to the bed.

"Well Kisuke had a meeting the other night saying that hospitals here wont help you and that you needed to talk to a doctor that understands the situation you were in, so they wanted to send you-"

"No!" Her voice shot up, "I am not leaving Karakura!"

Ichigo gave a small squeeze to Orihime's hand, "That's what I told them, I mean we al l just got back. I told them I wouldn't let them take you away from us."

_From me. _

"So.. I'm not leaving Karakura?" He squeezed her hand quickly again, "Nope."

She smiled at him, intertwining her fingers with his. "Good."

/-/-/

After a few more seconds of a comfortable silence, Yoruichi walked back into the room, looking upset. But when the two teens noticed her, she put on a smile.

"So Orihime, you, my friend, are coming home with me tomorrow!"

Orihime smiled and looked towards Ichigo, who was also smiling. "I'm guessing Ichigo told you about out plan?"

Orihime nodded her head then looked back towards Yoruichi. "Yup!"

"And you are 100% okay with it?" "Yea, I mean if a doctor from our world heard about what I've been through in the past few months, they'd never let me out."

"That's good! But Me and Ichigo gotta get going to tell Kisuke the good news!" Yoruichi walked out the door, but stopped and spoke before completely leaving.

"Oh, and don't worry about staying anywhere! You'll be living with Ichigo!" And she ran off.

Orihime looked towards orange haired teen, eyes wide and face red.

Not like hers wasn't red either though.

"Uh, well it was good.. seeing you.. um bye." And with that, he ran out of the room.

"Me.. staying with.. Ichigo.." Orihime's lips curved into a big smile as she tried to hold in her scream of excitement.

/-/-/

Yoruichi was quiet on the walk out of the hospital.

"Yoruichi what's wrong? You haven't said anything since we left Orihime's room."

Once they were a good distance from the hospital, Yoruichi stopped walking on the sidewalk, causing Ichigo to walk into her.

"Ow! Why'd you stop."

"She's not just hurting herself." Yoruichi's voice was cold.

Ichigo's eyes went wide, "Wha-what do you mean?"

"I mean she didn't _just _hurt herself."

Ichigo grabbed Yoruichi's arm and pulled her into a small alley between two large buildings.

"Explain." He spoke, his tone a mixture of worry and anger.

"When I talked to the doctor.. she told me that Orihime' liver was really messed but."

Ichigo just stared at her.

"Are you telling me.. she's been..."

"Drinking."

* * *

**And I will end on that note!**

**Again I am SOO sorry for not updating but.**

**And don't expect one anytime soon. I'm looking for a job and I have to write my college essay.**

**Going into senior year sucks.**

**But I will be putting up little one shot to make up for my lack of writing.**

**Please read and review! For jus read haha.**

**Anyway I love all of you who are still following and I love the new readers too! **

**See you soon!**


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